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1382
If 1380 had been the Year of the Magna Carta, 1381 should've been the Year of the Commonwealth. Instead, it was the Year of the Ork, humanoid creatures that started as domesticated pigs or wild boar and mutated. Across the Eastern Hemisphere, they commandeered human weapons and devastated regions. This was the second example of the world's fauna being weaponized. The first had been the amplified Western Hemisphere species, both predators and prey, but also key flora that fed the grazers. It was as if who or whatever was behind the amplification wanted the cycle of life to continue just long enough to weed out everything that wasn't selectively enlarged. Based on ignoring the humans, weeding out the people seemed like the main goal. Zombies had hit both hemispheres hard, but the West got a special flavor of that. Not so much "undying" as "reincarnated;" some of the amplified species hadn't been seen in four millennia or longer, previously hunted to extinction. Already "megafauna" of their time, they came back bigger, faster and stronger. In the north of The West, by the end of the year, the HMS Discovery found the threats were morphing and evolving. The orks were quickly migrating under their own direction, jumping the strait from northeast Siberian areas to the northwest corner of the Western Hemisphere (at the the expense of the Inuit). Further, they'd been seen riding dire wolves. If it weren't for the rise (and merger) of bioweapons, the CMC would've marked the political blossoming of the Age of Enlightenment. Likewise, the creations of the Order of Merlin would have stolen the show in any other timeline. From magical mapping to frozen smoke to Rods of Water, even powerful magic was struggling to keep up with attacks on the world. 'World Events' *'January:' complete their conquest of the Crimea. They'd destroyed the largely sedentary garrisons who were otherwise terrorizing and harvesting Slavs for slavery (so they could do it themselves). Knowing the rest of the Horde wouldn't be far behind, they began building defenses at the northern and eastern connection points. *'March:' The Hungarian-Croation coalition allies with Dmitry Donskoy of Muscovy-Vladimir. They have mutual enemies in both the Golden Horde and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Horde now at a political imperative for conquest, they knew a massive counterattack was coming – they just didn't know where. Still stinging from the defeat to Dmitry, the Horde elects to attack the defenses that haven't had the experience against their tactics. Word of the target selection leaks... **The massive ''Horde formation makes passage across the Dnieper and attacks the earthen ramparts of the town of Ginestra. The coalition had prepared well but otherwise underestimated the sheer size of the now-combined Golden Horde. Donskoy's attack from the rear was the perfect hammer to the Ginestra anvil, but the miles-wide size and scope of the battle results in mutual devastation, including the death of Charles of Durazzo. Khan Tokhtamysh escapes, but is mortally wounded in the battle and eventually dies from infection at Sarai Batu. **Word of Tokhtamysh's death reaches Amir Timur a week later. As the younger khan was, at the time, an acolyte of Timur's, the old master now analyzes and plans the requisite retaliation. **With Charles now out of the picture, King Louis rescinds the Durazzo policy of Slavic harvesting. *'April:' 84-year old Kęstutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, dies en route to negotiations with former Grand Duke Jogaila. Jogaila regains the rule of Lithuania. *'May:' The Ottomans conquer Sofia from the Bulgarians. Their push is accelerated, looking to maximize territory and resources and against the growing shadow of Plantagenets. The Ottomans already know their "security tactic" of genocide has precluded negotiation. *'May (late):' Rumors of the ''Altercation of the Angels quickly echo out of London, with it widely interpreted that the archangel Michael is also Ares and Mars (appeared "in many forms"), creating a kind of cross-religion tolerance. The downside, Michael/Mars suggested London use their armies to destroy the world, creating new strife/fear/uncertainty in Abrahamic religions and, almost as much, what United Britannia might do with its armies. Considering Richard is a prince thereof, that is a factor in politics and diplomacy. *'June:' After less than a year, Barquq deposes Hajji II as Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, marking the end of the Bahri Dynasty, and the start of the already-declining Burji Dynasty. *'July:' Balša II of Zeta conquers Albania. Just a little north of the Plantagenet Peloponnese, there is jockeying and politics around the lands in the shadow. *September – Following the death of **Louis' daughter becomes Queen of Hungary. **The Poles, who do not wish to be ruled by Mary's fiancee, the future Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, choose Mary's younger sister, Jadwiga, to become ruler of Poland. After two years of negotiations, Jadwiga is eventually crowned "King" in 1384. *September 30 – The inhabitants of Trieste (now in northern Italy) donate their city to Duke Leopold III of Austria. *October – James I succeeds his nephew, Peter II, as King of Cyprus. *November 27 – Battle of Roosebeke: A French army under Louis II, Count of Flanders defeats the Flemings, led by Philip van Artevelde. 'Date Unknown' *Ibrahim I is selected to succeed Husheng, as Shah of Shirvan (now Azerbaijan). *Ahmed deposes his brother, Hussain, as ruler of the Jalayirid Dynasty in western Persia. *Rana Lakha succeeds Rana Kshetra Singh, as ruler of Mewar (now part of western India). *Dawit I succeeds his brother Newaya Maryam, as Emperor of Ethiopia. 'The Sphere of Magic' January * The Treaty of Warsaw: Louis I of Hungary and Poland agreed to a peace treaty with the CMC, which secured almost the entirety of his western borders. This was unprecedented for him, allowing him to focus on the Lithuanian and Ottoman threats. ** Given his perceptions about the complicity of the Queen Joanna of Italy, Louis had misgivings about anything Plantagenet. This opened the door to Charles of Durazzo (and led to the adventures in the Crimea), but the divine miracles and the arcane magic were hard to ignore. After Rick resolved Jobst issues, and the removal of the thorn of the Teutonic Knights, Louis reassessed everything. This led to the Treaty of Warsaw. February * The Return of the Valois Crown: Duke Charles VI is crowned King of France by King Rickard, former of King of France. This Plantagenet-in-Valois-clothing has been Rick's little brother as of late, and his strength of character was proven in surviving the crucible of the [[Records: Dominus Exorcus|'Dominus Exorcus']]. * The Reunification of Christendom: the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox leadership officially came together as one church. Importantly, old theological distinctions weren't necessarily resolved – but the dialogue of reconciliation and unity was more important than metaphysics that didn't seem to affect whether healing miracles were achievable. The healing metric was the gold standard to defining what was worth arguing about. March * The Elegant Union: Mary, daughter of Louis I of Hungary and Poland, is betrothed and quickly wed to recently-royally restored Charles VI of France. The poles had similar reservations with Charles that they had with Sigismund as a foreigner, but Charles' access to Regiments minimized discord. ** In counsel, the Poles were assured they wouldn't be dissolved and woven into an expanded Hungary. This was the public discontent, and Charles intervened to have the Polish Crown Jewels moved back to Poland. With Charles and Mary along side Louis the Great (who had regained strength) – and Plantagenet-powered Regiments behind them – peace prevailed. ** The private discontent came from the separatist magnates of Greater Poland, who were leaning toward Germany or Pomerania, with the lords of Lesser Poland trying to maintain a union against the incursions of Lithuania. April * Austria Joins the Kingdom of Germany: The Duchy of Austria was the home of the House of Habsburg, a chief rival of the House of Luxembourg, and Emperor Charles IV had successfully minimized their voting role in the Empire. That had rolled over into the recent creation of the Kingdom of Germany, but now left Austria both a loose end (outside trade benefits with the Plantagenets) and a loose cannon (without control of waging foreign wars). Margrave Rick of Brandenburg was able to bring them to negotiations and brought them into the kingdom as a voting member. May * The Altercation of the Angels. 'May 21: what might've been the day of the "Earthquake Synod" in a bygone timeline, the Dover Straits are disrupted by an earthquake. Moments after the shaking, a visitor arrived at the Westminster Court credibly claiming to be the Archangel Michael. He has appeared in many forms, including Mars, the God of War, and encouraged the English to unleash their wrath on the world, starting with France. When King Edward IV rebuked him, four other angels arrived and he killed three of them, but the fourth survived to "banish" Michael. ** The Royal Court was spared only because of the quick reaction of the Royal Order of Merlin. The throne room of Westminster was heavily damaged in the battle. ** The survivor confirmed the six archangels have gone mad (hence the ''Burning Frogs of Cairo). God's voice and plan is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ineffability ineffable], but Michael was going against the will of Christ. ** Survivor also mentions that there is a difference between the heaven of humanity and the "Heavens" of the sky, where the angels come from. Not much beyond that ominous note. ** Politically, this soiled trousers across Europe and beyond. This wasn't going against the Pope, this went against an archangel who had gone mad enough to encourage the English to commit genocide. '''June * The Chaos of the Churches: the aftermath of the madness of Michael reverberated around Europe, where the archangel Michael was identified, but considering that he'd "had many names," now threw all the world's religions into both doubt and sorrowful belief. The Aztecs had their own God of War, and this didn't foster any nostalgia. Christ had a bump in belief, but the raw fear in a God of War against a prophet of peace didn't look good. ** The Union of Britannia was further withdrawing, going into a defensive mode. Maybe Jesus was on their side, but the Archangel Michael might have issues. Nobody knew what a cross-angel "banishment" really meant. Prince Rick (king elsewhere) made his way back to London for closed Crown conferences but was the early definition of Keep Calm and Carry On... July * The Completion of the Reconquista: The Emirate of Grenada was in a slow disintegration from half a dozen factors, and Rick put it down gently. People were given the choice of deportation or swearing temporal allegiance. About half left, though not necessarily because they were hardcore Muslims, but rather they were afraid of living in a place that may have upset the God of War. ** Essentially the same operation, through August, Rick took the City of Cueta across the strait, giving a foothold on the south side of the Mediterranean. August September October November * The Growth of the Light: the light of knowledge in this case is accelerated by the Books of Learning, which have expanded now to more than a hundred subjects. Winchester College, whose planning was already in the works, is founded in England and is one of the larger schools to pop up in this rush to teach. December Category:Hall of Records Category:1382